Search for “feystown”

I see that Feystown is one of the more popular topics in this little blog–many folks seem to visit my blog as a result of a search for it. So I thought I’d just pose the pictures I have of it. I visited there in May of 2006 and took a fair number of photos. Most of the headstones I photographed are ones that are direct ancestors, or names I recognized for other reasons. It certainly is NOT an extensive catalogue of the cemetery, and I’d certainly encourage someone perhaps more local to do just that, catalogue the entire cemetery while the stones can still be read. It’d also be interesting to see if there are any parish books/registers still within the church that could be photographed and indexed. If you’re going to dream, dream big. lol

So without further ado, my Feystown cemetery photos.

(please feel free to use these photos for your own personal, non-profit use so long as you give proper credit and sourcing. I”d also love to hear from you and get copies of whatever you’re using them for)

(Note that this is a Catholic church and cemetery and as such none of the names on these headstones should be submitted for re-baptism by the Mormon church or others)

I’ve noticed that folks who do a google-type search for Feystown keep landing at my home page. It’s not completely ludicrous, as I do have a couple of postings, including photos, about Feystown. However, those postings are in the archives and do not show up on my Home page. So, if you’re one of those folks, I’ve added a Search bar tool at the bottom of my home page. Just enter “Feystown” and you should find all my entries on it. Currently it will take you here. I’d love to hear what you folks know/learn about Feystown as there really isn’t much “out there”–please leave me feedback under Comments!

(Please use the search bar at the bottom of the page to search for many other topics including Feystown and Christmas cards)

There is a curious grave near my Thompson ancestors’ grave in Reading, Berkshire, England. It bears only the name Elizabeth Gill. Is it coincidence that she bears the same surname of one of the Thompson wives?

That’s what started my little search this evening. A quick glancing search through various online digitized records and there was a link between an Elizabeth Gill and a Robert Thompson. Aha! I have a (well, many actually) Robert Thompson!

So, I followed his life online. How strange it is to follow a person’s life in 10 year increments (census to census), to boil their entire life down to a few pages of census printouts, and a couple of freebmd.org.uk entries.

It turns out this is not the Robert Thompson associated with Elizabeth Gill. He is, however, my second great granduncle and it was about time I got to know him better.

He, like his siblings, was born in Devizes, Wiltshire in the 1830s. In the 1850s he’s away at school with his brother, and by the 1860s he has moved, with the rest of the family (parents, siblings, etc) to Reading, Berkshire. Like many of the siblings he followed in his father’s shopkeeping/selling footsteps. He is listed in the subsequent census as a Pork Buther, Pork Curer, and Shopkeeper.

In his 30s he married a young woman named Rose. She was from an adjacent county.

Through the years the couple had several nieces and nephews stay with them, including one, a Mabel Skinner (I haven’t fit her into the tree yet), who was with them at age 6, and remained until at least age 16. It seems they never had any children of their own, and Rose confirms this in the 1911 census when she writes “none” in the column requesting the number of children born alive. She’s a widow at that time.

Robert died in 1906, in Reading. Rose lived until 1927 when she too passed away in Reading. They both serve as yet further examples of the importance of following the dead-end branches of the family tree. This couple has much more to tell more, and hopefully I’ll find out much more as I continue my research.

(Please use the SEARCH bar at page bottom for other topics, including Rhodesia, Feystown, WWI, old Christmas Cards)

I love the lights and decorations that decorate the neighbourhood this time of year. And of course, my own yard is amongst them.

Growing up, dad would always put the light strands on the outside of the house and in the trees. As the years passed, he would add more lights, so then there were strings of lights going down the side of our very steep and long driveway. There weren’t any of the many types of decorations that are available today. I, for instance, have one of those fan-blown decorations–a carousel with Santa, a penguin and snowmen riding reindeer going round and round.

The biggest excitement as far as the outdoor scene went really was the house that had a huge plywood star outlined in lights. Having said that, there was a cul-de-sac street in my hometown where 5 or so houses all really went all out. They had created a whole show, with teddy bears going up and down on a teeter-totter (see-saw), other stuffed animals riding a ferris wheel round and round, and seasonal music playing from a loudspeaker.

I watch in awe the videos of those who really go all-out (try, for instance, the Lindsay household). If it were not just me to do all the work, I rather think I’d like to try doing it up like these places. What a great creative outlet, and a gift to those passing by.

Of course, part of it is enjoying the outdoor decorations of other houses as well. We’re lucky to have a population here from India who put their lights up at Diwali (a light festival), generally around Hallowe’en, so the show is fairly continuous from then right through to the new year.

Don’t you wish, though, that we started calling these lights by their English name, “Fairy Lights“. It sounds so much more magical than our simple descriptor!

(If you landed here from a Search page, you’ll likely find your topic or keyword in my Archives. Try the Search bar at the bottom of the page. I do have entries on Feystown, and WWI Christmas Cards!)

Today I started a project, an attempt to sort out all these Cornish families who seem to have intertwined, intermarried and generally made things difficult for my family research. I figured if I could take one of the lines back far enough, and then work all the branches forward, well, I might chip away at an old brick. I realize this might sound like just throwing more bricks at the brick wall, and I cannot say it’s not a daunting task.

I had hoped that going back to the early 1800s or late 1700s would be far enough. But some preliminary research in parish records and I can see I really need to go back to the oldest records accessible–the 1500s!

So this has me re-thinking my plan.

I am curious, though, as to why a mother would give the surname of her mother’s new husband to one of her sons…yes, I mean you Lucy Deacon (nee Kestle) naming your son William Hutchings Deacon. What the heck is up with that.

There are many instances, and these I can understand, of the woman’s maiden name being used as middle names for most or all of the children. That’s actually a bit of a helpful practice.

But then there’s Mary Kestel Hutchings, who appears to be marrying Thomas Williams Deacon in the mid-1800s…Kestel and Williams, Hutchings and Deacon, all had already married into each other for generations it seems. How many cousins are marrying cousins, and how close cousins?

This is an older picture of the headstones put up by the local McRandal family to replace the originals. Below is a picture I took of the same headstones in May 2006. Notice the extreme differences in condition–the wind and rain wear stone down quickly in this region.

“Howdy folks“, to quote grandma. For those of you not related to me, I am the keeper of all things family history for both sides of my family. I have been “doing” genealogy since I was about 10 years old, and even before as I listened to Nana’s stories of ... Continue reading →